'Fruitless' - Invisibility and the grinding down of Individuality

A Site-Specific Performance

First shown at ‘TactileBOSCH Presents ‘Jubilee’, December 2018.

This piece, mimicking the actions of thousands who work in the retail sector, germinated after a rather intense period of time as a Department Manager at a High street shop. Long hours, illegal spaces of time between shifts, Constant belittlement, and an environment fueled by Excessive Coffee consumption, Anxiety attacks and sleepless nights caused me to have to walk away from a job most would work their lives towards achieving.

The piece, a physical representation of my frustrations during this period of time. As a person who prides themselves on having built their individuality and character from the ground up, I felt myself lose who I was and become insanely reclusive. The piece, consisting of the performer in a home-made traditional ‘Ghost’ outfit, with a Wallet chain (worn in an effort to fit in with my work-peers) hung around their neck, folds clothes and piles them high into a tower.

The tower, inherently unstable, collapses over and over. A reference to the symbolism of ‘The Tower’ Tarot Card (representing; Unexpected change, Renovation, Catastrophe, Destruction, Accident or damage), the tower collapses and is constantly rebuilt. If the performer succeeds finally in keeping the tower ‘Stable’, it is then lifted into the performer’s arms and carried through the space. The sheet offers low to almost no visibility, and the performer often walks into either a spectator, or an obstacle, and the resulting stumble causes the tower to fall onto the floor in a large pile.